In Memory of Pat Quinn - 1943-2014

My first experience with Pat Quinn's brand of hockey was when he was the coach/GM of the Vancouver Canucks. Prior to Pat Quinn's arrival from the Los Angeles Kings bench, the Canucks were a sub-500 team struggling to even be relevant in a hockey market that had been apathetic due to the losing record. People weren't expecting more out of this team and were resigned to the fact that if this kind of win/loss record continued, the Canucks would be pulling up stakes and moving out of town.

As a high-school student, I'd read about the Canucks in the paper and see loss after loss pile up. In fact, in the school-yard, we'd flip a quarter to see if the Canucks would win or lose. The magic of '82 under the guiding hand of Roger Nielson had long since faded into the depths of time.

We desperately needed to right this foundering ship and the Griffiths family looked to Pat Quinn in 1987. It was an all-out effort to get someone who could construct the type of hockey team that Vancouver fans were wanting to see. But Quinn was then coaching the Los Angeles Kings and the resultant contract by the Canucks on Pat Quinn's services ran Griffiths and Quinn afoul of the NHL head office. Threats of charges of tampering were thrown about and the LA Kings threatened a review of the contract. This led to Pat Quinn being suspended for the rest of the season as he couldn't conceivably coach for the Kings while undertaking a contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

The first trade that he made was to pack off Patrik Sundstrom and two picks to the New Jersey Devils for Kirk McLean, Greg Adams and a pick who would later be Leif Rohlin (1988 Entry Draft). The backstopper affectionately named Captain Kirk would be an integral piece in the 1994 Stanley Cup run. In the 1988 Entry Draft, The Canucks picked second and they selected a young Medicine Hat kid named Trevor Linden. Then an year later in the 6th round, they selected a young Soviet phenom named Pavel Bure. These players would become the cornerstones of the franchise in 94 with the additions of players like Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall, Bret Hedican, Nathan Lafayette and Jeff Brown. Trevor Linden would be named the youngest captain of the team upon Stan Smyl's retirement and fill those shoes he did as did Quinn's trust in him to lead the team.

Almost twenty years later, the same young man that Pat Quinn had drafted as President of Hockey Operations and General Manager would step into Quinn's shoes and begin his Canuck front office executive career as the Canucks President of Hockey Operations.

He was remembered in April 2014 as a builder and a great leader by Canucks management and his #3 was placed in the Ring of Honour.

...and on Sunday, November 23, 2014, we lost a great man and forever a Vancouver Canuck.  Sandra Quinn and Pat's family have asked for privacy at this sensitive time and the media and the fans will respect that.  All we know was that Pat was fighting a long illness. 

His words ring true for anyone following any passion, be it hockey, be it any sport or creative activity.

"I'm not immune to pain, dejection. But I... have a passion, a love, for this. I don't think that ever leaves you."


 The most stirring rendition of "Danny Boy" I have ever heard.  Packs a powerful punch visually, aurally and emotionally.  You're a hard-hearted person if you can watch this without a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat. 






Rest in Peace, Big Irishman, Mighty Quinn.

This Off-Season Is Going To Be Interesting

Everybody knows that this off-season is of absolute importance for the Canucks. Nobody believes the idea that the Canucks will contend for the Stanley Cup next season with the current roster. There are tweaks that have to be made and it will be painful this off-season. But simply put, it has to be done.

Rumor has it that Canucks GM Jim Benning is looking at getting a second draft pick in the first round, trading one of their core pieces to get a key piece for the future - the concensus being that this core piece being dealt is forward Ryan Kesler who has expressed a desire to be traded and according to his agent, he hasn't moved from that position.

Most teams that win the Stanley Cup have a main core that is in their twenties and the LA Kings who just won the Stanley Cup has a young core. But that core was built through the draft, having good scouting and making key trades to bring supporting cast to help bolster their lines.

Considering Benning's reticence to talk about what plans he has for the team, we have no idea what's coming, but rest assured, he's going to be watching the options like a hawk. We know that this off-season is going to be interesting...and that's about all we know about it.

Waiting For Trotz

It’s official.  The Canucks have the worst record for secret keeping in recent history.  First it was rumoured that Trevor Linden was to be hired as President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks weeks before it happened.  Voila.  Trevor Linden is now the President of Hockey Operations.  Check one.

For weeks now there’s been speculation that Jim Benning (former Assistant General Manager of the Boston Bruins) was going to be the next General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.  Well.  Friday May 23^rd, 2014.  Jim Benning was announced officially as the eleventh General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.  Check two.

Now media and other around Vancouver are speculating that Barry Trotz may be the next coach after the ill-fated John Tortorella of the Vancouver Canucks.  Well…considering that he has options in Washington and Pittsburgh; that may or may not come to pass.  But at this point, it is rumoured, that Barry Trotz is high on Jim Benning’s list as a potential head coaching candidate. 

It remains to be seen if the speculation will go three for three and get a hat-trick.  Until then, we’re “Waiting for Trotz”.  

Update: May 27, 2014 - Barry Trotz opted for the Washington Capitals head coaching job and was hired by the Capitals today.  So mark Trotz off the list of potential head coach candidates.

Update 2: June 23, 2014 - Willie Desjardins was offered the head coaching job of the Vancouver Canucks and Desjardins has accepted.   

 

Jim Benning Named 11th General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

photo attrib: Jonathan Hayward, CP

"Vancouver plays in maybe the toughest division in the league and to win our division and to keep going we are going to have to go through the L.A.’s, the Anaheims and the San Joses. They are big, heavy teams. When we talk to our scouting staffs, one of our mandates will be let's try to get a little bit bigger, let's get a little more rugged so we can play both styles. We can play a skilled skating style when need be, but when it it is a rugged physical game we can play that style, too."

"We want a coach that is firm, but fair, that has good communication skills so he can relate to the players. We want a coach that is going to play a structured style of game when we don't have the puck, but give the players the freedom to skate and create when they do have the puck."

These were some of the words that Jim Benning used to describe what the Vancouver Canucks have to go through in order to get through the play-offs; the pieces of the puzzle that they would need in order to solve the riddle that is the re-constituted Pacific Division which has stymied the Canucks this past season.

This past season that seemed at the start so bright has been an absolute disaster and at its conclusion saw John Tortorella removed from his position as head coach.  All in all with a Vancouver - Calgary game that saw Torts become unhinged and frantic to get into the Calgary locker room to the defensive breakdowns that have continually plagued the Canucks; this season was a circus.  I was a Torts proponent; and in some ways, I still am, I feel he was stymied by Mike Gillis; we saw a much more media-savvy “kindler, gentler” Torts, but in that way, he wasn’t able to meld the Canucks to what was expected out of them.  He was ham-strung from doing his job.  Be that as it may however this season was a season best forgotten and not emulated in any way shape or form. 

And now poor Jim Benning, formerly a Canucks defenseman during his playing days from 1986-1990 has spent his career off the ice, in a scouting role; first from 1993-94 in Anaheim as an amateur scout, then with Buffalo from 1994-2004 as a scout and Dir. Amateur Scouting, then finally with the Bruins from 2006-2014 as Dir. Player Personnel then Asst. General Manager instrumental in the Bruins franchise and Stanley Cup Champions in 2011, has had to step into the role of General Manager of the floundering Vancouver Canucks to right the ship and steer it in the right direction.  Lest anyone think that this is a Canucks version of the “ol’boy’s club” Canucks President of Hockey Operations, Trevor Linden, has done his due diligence interviewing many suitable candidates and finally selecting Benning from his attributes and experience that he brings to the management table. 

The next job for Trevor Linden and Jim Benning is to go to Toronto to view the draft choices at the NHL Combine and select a head coach for next season as veterans training camp starts in middle of September and rookie camp starts earlier than that and for the curriculum to be in place for rookie camp, the head coach needs to be hired long before then. 

We know three things:  The Canucks are going to get 1) bigger, 2) more aggressive and 3) still be able to play a transition game balance from offense to defence.  It’s not an impossible task but those pieces are going to be tough to locate.  Benning is keen on the draft that there will be a player available this draft that can help the team.  And he, like Linden feels that the best way to get key players into the Canucks organization is to build through the draft.  Considering the poor picks that have plagued the Canucks during their history; Libor Polasek, Mike Wilson and others come to mind, the fact that our new GM has a scouting background comes as a literal godsend. 

Hopefully this will be the start of the turnaround of the awful Canucks fortunes since the 2011 playoffs where we lost the Stanley Cup in our home arena thanks to a team literally built from draft choices that Jim Benning made.  We’re glad he’s home (Vancouver is as close to Edmonton as he can get…let alone Calgary), back in the Canucks fold and hope that he can recreate the Canucks in his and Trevor’s vision.

So Long, Lu - What A Hell Of Week (leading up to the Trade Deadline)!

Roberto Luongo, the Vancouver Canucks' former beleaguered goaltender, ousted from his starter role by both Corey Schneider (now gone to the New Jersey Devils) and by Eddie Lack, the future of goaltending for the Canucks, has been traded back to the team that he came from eight years ago.

Vancouver gets back touted prospects (who have had a rough stretch of it with the Florida Panthers) forward Shawn Matthias and goaltender Jacob Markstrom (a Swede who can discuss the merits of the Swedish chef with his now bosom buddy, Eddie Lack). The only other trades that happened were Jeff Costello from the Senators for Patrick Mullen. And six-game Canuck Raphael Diaz (obtained from the Montreal Canadians) was sent packing to the New York Rangers for a fifth round draft pick.

Better yet, now that we have Jeff Costello, any chance we can talk with the Toronto Maple Leafs and do a trade for Spencer Abbott? That'll just make everybody's day.